I can't do it alone
by Snavej
Summary: "Will you tell me what's wrong? I promise I won't tell your boyfriend." That made Ladybug smile, if only for a second. [Angsty oneshot because it's exams in the UK right now and we all need angst in exams. Enjoy!]
_"_ _Chat! No!"_

X~X~X

"Adrien, I presume you will be accompanying Miss Dupain-Cheng this weekend?"

Adrien groaned as he held the phone to one ear and picked up the pile of papers to mark with his other hand.

"Dad, she's worked for you for four years, I think you can call her Marinette now."

"Adrien I will decide exactly how I will treat my employees and I will give Miss Dupain-Cheng the respect she deserves," Gabriel's voice said.

Adrien decided to drop the subject.

"Yes, I will accompany Marinette this weekend. If I get all these papers marked I'll even offer to model something I you need me."

"I will bear that in mind, talk to you soon. Enjoy marking the papers." Gabriel hung up.

Adrien smiled to himself as he pocketed his phone. But he got two steps before he felt his phone vibrate.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, when will you be home?" Marinette's voice said.

"Soon, I just packed up. Sorry, Dad called about the weekend. He's still calling you Miss Dupain-Cheng," Adrien muttered. "He seriously needs to relax."

"Yeah, I know," Marinette replied.

"It makes me think we should get married to see if he'd call you Mrs Agreste," Adrien mused. "That would be amusing."

"Hmm, yeah…"

"Are you alright?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you when you get home."

"Okay, love you."

"Love you too," Marinette said and hung up.

X~X~X

 _"_ _You'll pay for that!"_

X~X~X

Tikki watched Marinette pace back and forth around the bathroom.

"I mean I was gonna tell him about being Ladybug but I can't dump both of these things on him," Marinette ranted. She glanced down at the bin and winced.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Tikki offered.

"Yeah cos that won't freak him out at all." Marinette resumed pacing. "I don't need this now. We don't need this now. Adrien is only on his second post doc position and I'm just getting somewhere in my career. And what about being Ladybug? I can't do both. Now is not the right time."

She looked around at Tikki for confirmation.

"It's up to you Marinette."

Marinette sunk to the floor.

X~X~X

 _"_ _Miraculous Ladybug!"_

X~X~X

Adrien opened the door of their apartment and dumped his keys in the bowl on the side.

"Mari? I'm home!"

"I'll be there in a minute." He heard her voice coming from down the hall.

"Have you started dinner?" he called back. But he gained no reply.

Marinette appeared dressed in her pyjamas.

"Sorry I didn't start food, I didn't know if you were going to the gym tonight or not? So I didn't know if you wanted something light?" she smiled up at him and Adrien was immediately suspicious. Her lips had lifted into her classic bright smile, but her eyes looked slightly puffy. She had been crying.

Adrien tactfully decided not to ask about it. Marinette would talk when she was ready. Instead he drew her into a tight hug.

"I missed you today. Jon's wife has just given birth a month early so he's dumped a load of work on me. Not that I mind, it's a great chance to prove myself. But I can only listen to so much of him being happy before I start missing you."

Marinette gave him a slight squeeze before pulling back.

"So what do you want to eat? I don't fancy anything too big, but if you're hungry?"

"How about bolognaise?" Adrien suggested. "Then you can just take as much as you want and the rest can be for tomorrow's lunch or something."

Marinette nodded her agreement and together they began to cook.

"You said your father called?" Marinette prompted. "Did he say anything about the show? I realise he's putting a lot on the line giving me a whole section."

"He honestly seemed more concerned about whether or not I would be accompanying and supporting you than with what you were doing. I offered to model if needed."

"Really? I don't know Adrien, you're getting a bit old," Marinette teased. Adrien was relieved to see the light returning to her eyes. "I think I can see a wrinkle there."

"No one would be looking at my face if I'm wearing one of your designs," Adrien replied.

Marinette only laughed.

X~X~X

 _"_ _Chat! Open your eyes!"_

X~X~X

"I'm just going out for a bit," Marinette called down the corridor.

"Where are you off to?" Adrien asked, appearing in the doorway.

"Well if you're off to the gym, I thought I might go and draw by the river or something."

"Okay, well don't stay out too late."

"Yes mum," Marinette said, rolling her eyes and leaving with a wave.

Adrien watched her go.

"Come on Plagg, time for patrol."

"But my camembert!"

"All right, I will collect all the rubbish up to take down to the bins. You have until I am done doing that to eat any camembert you can find in the fridge."

Plagg zoomed off towards the kitchen and Adrien laughed to himself. He systematically went through each room in the apartment and emptied all the bins. Normally, the bins was one of Marinette's chores, but Adrien thought that if he could relieve her work load even a little in the run up to the show, that it would make her life a little less stressful.

He wasn't paying much attention until he was shaking the bathroom's bin into one of the emptier bin bags. Something fell to the floor and Adrien immediately scooped down to pick up the little white stick.

It took a moment for the connection between what he was holding and what that meant to hit him. He flipped it over.

And dropped it in shock.

X~X~X

 _"_ _Hold on, I'll get you help!"_

X~X~X

Chat headed to the river bank hoping to see Marinette drawing. Not that he wanted to creepily watch her drawing or anything. But she was incredibly beautiful when concentrating on her work. And now he knew what was troubling her. It troubled him too. Perhaps 'overwhelmed' would have been a better word.

Marinette was not on the river bank. But his Lady was. She was perched and staring pensively into the water.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he greeted her, but she didn't look around.

"Chat," her voice was quiet, "you have someone you care about right?"

"Other than you, my Lady?"

"Yes, like a girlfriend or a boyfriend?"

Sensing that she had some sort of trouble that she needed help with, Chat decided to share.

"I have a girlfriend."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," he replied honestly. "Though I don't think I tell her that enough."

"I have a boyfriend," Ladybug said. She shifted. "I found something out today and I know I should tell him. But I'm scared."

"What of?" Chat asked.

"It's just wrong. We're not ready for it, Chat…" She buried her head in her hands. "In a few years, maybe, but now?" She paused and took a deep breath. "I don't feel like an adult, do you?"

"Not really," Chat admitted.

"I feel no different to when I was a kid. Only now people listen to me and I have responsibility and my career is taking off…"

"Will you tell me what's wrong? I promise I won't tell your boyfriend."

That made Ladybug smile, if only for a second.

"Well I suppose it might affect you too," she admitted. "I, um…" She looked away. "Wow this is hard. I haven't said it out loud yet. It makes it more real. I've kind of tried to ignore it."

"In the hope it'd go away?" Chat prompted.

"Something like that."

Chat waited for her to go on. He had all evening. Marinette would not expect him home for a few hours, and considering her own troubles, she might not want him home just yet.

"I'm pregnant."

X~X~X

 _"_ _Someone! Anyone! Call an ambulance!"_

X~X~X

It took almost a minute for the words to register in Chat's mind.

"Wow," he managed.

Everyone was growing up and Chat wasn't entirely sure he was ready for it all.

"Only I don't know if I want it. Not yet. We need to defeat Hawkmoth. I can't be a mother and be Ladybug. I don't want to lose you as a friend. But I don't want to get rid of it either."

"Pandas can just put pregnancies on pause if they aren't happy with the conditions," Chat said as the random piece of information came to mind.

"I wish I could do that," Ladybug muttered.

"You should talk to your boyfriend, you know?" he said after a few minutes silence.

"I know," she agreed. "I'm still a little scared that he would leave me. It's ridiculous. I know he wouldn't, but this doubt in the back of my mind keeps creeping in."

"Why would you think that? Even if you were only half the person I know, he would be a fool to leave you," Chat said.

"I'm not all that great out of the suit Chat," Ladybug admitted. "I'm not nearly as rationally minded and I have lost count of the number of times I have stolen peoples' phones. I mean I always give them back but I do stupid stuff like that. It is always to try and help, sort of, but…" She sighed. "I can't be a mother! Mothers are role models. What kind of role model steals phones?"

"I'm sure you're exaggerating."

Ladybug coughed.

"I'll tell him next week. Everything will be less hectic then," she said finally.

"You know whatever happens, I'll be here for you, okay?" Chat said. "And if he kicks you out, you can come and live with me."

"I'm sure your girlfriend would love that," Ladybug muttered.

"I think she'd be more concerned about shielding the fact she knew Ladybug from one of our friends, they're quite a big fan of yours."

"Thank you Chat, you're a good friend." Ladybug turned and pulled Chat into a hug, which he returned.

"Any time my Lady."

X~X~X

 _"_ _It's okay Chat, help is on its way. Just hold on for me._ "

X~X~X

Marinette vowed to tell Adrien on Sunday, after the show was complete. They would both have the day off and she would just avoid her Ladybug duties until then. Chat knew and would understand.

Unfortunately, Hawkmoth had other ideas about that.

The following day, chaos rained on the streets of Paris. Quite literally. Marinette had missed the name of the akuma in her haste to transform. Various objects were pelting the ground and people.

"I will rain on your parade!" Ladybug heard the akumatised man shout.

"Ladybug, get back!" Chat shouted from somewhere on her left. "Let me handle this!"

"Chat, we're a team and nothing is going to change that!" she yelled back. She heard him hiss in reply, but ignored him and focused on the victim. He appeared to be a theatrical man. Was it the headset?

A new shower of random objects – they looked like lightbulbs and screws? – was aimed their way and both Ladybug and Chat Noir dove for cover.

"Give me your miraculouses!"

X~X~X

 _"_ _No, no! Chat! Stay with me! Please!"_

X~X~X

Chat didn't even stop to think. In that moment, he just reacted.

The swirling mass of objects had been heading right for his Lady. And in that moment, she'd looked remarkably like Marinette. So he jumped.

He would have hoped that someone would have saved Marinette. So he jumped to save some other man the pain of losing Ladybug.

The two most important women in his life were pregnant. He would protect them both.

He was oblivious to the pain as the stream of screws, bulbs and props tore through his torso faster than he could blink. He didn't hear Ladybug's scream. He just fell to the ground.

X~X~X

 _"_ _Breathe! Chat! Breathe!"_

X~X~X

He could hear her voice. She sounded upset.

"No…" he tried to speak. He didn't want his Lady to be sad.

"Chat! Open your eyes!"

He tried to do as she asked. The sunlight streamed around her hair like a halo. She looked so pretty.

"Angel…" he mumbled

"Hold on, I'll get you help!" her voice said.

"Tell her…" Why was it so hard to breathe?

"Someone! Anyone! Call an ambulance!"

"Mari…" He had to make sure she knew.

"It's okay Chat, help is on its way. Just hold on for me."

"…love her…" He could trust his Lady to pass on the message.

"No, no! Chat! Stay with me! Please!"

He tried to tell her he wasn't going anywhere. But no sound came out. He could feel her body holding him. He felt safe.

"Breathe! Chat! Breathe!"

He was breathing though. He wanted to tell her it was okay. He was just resting.

His eyes closed.

And no matter how loudly his Lady screamed, his eyes would not open again.

X~X~X

 _"_ _I can't do this alone…"_

X~X~X


End file.
